1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of bedding. In particular, the invention relates to sheets used in making up a bed. More specifically, the invention relates to the coupled combination of a fitted bottom sheet and a top sheet, which coupled combination eases the task of making up a bed.
2. Prior Art
"Making the bed" is a task which repels most homemakers and at which most teenagers rebel. A bed, in general, comprises a mattress and its support, most frequently a box spring. In making up the bed, a sheet is placed atop the mattress. The sheet is large enough to cover the top surface of the mattress and to extend below the perimeter sides of the mattress. The extended portions are tucked in, under the mattress, to maintain the sheet in position while a person is sleeping on the sheet. This sheet, first applied when making a bed, is denoted the "bottom sheet", since a second, or "top sheet", will be applied as well.
Bottom sheets are often tailored to fit a mattress. Such "fitted sheets" have their four perimeter sides, and the extensions thereof, contoured and elasticized to fit snuggly about the mattress and maintain the sheet in place.
A top sheet is placed on the bottom sheet and the left and right perimeter sides, as well as the foot perimeter side of the sheet are drawn down about the mattress and the excess sheet is tucked in, under the mattress. The head perimeter side of the top sheet is not drawn down and tucked in. Instead, the top sheet is only brought to the head edge of the mattress so that a person seeking rest may settle down between the top and bottom sheets.
It is the person between the sheets who musses the bed. The top sheet is pulled back, its edges no longer in neat repose beneath the mattress. The problem is compounded throughout the night as the person tosses and turns between the sheets in sleep.
The fitted sheet has been a boon to bed makers. A few pats and a swipe of the hands frequently suffices to return the bottom sheet to a reasonable semblance of neatness. It is the top sheet that most frustrates the bed maker. There is much lifting and smoothing of the sheet and numerous trips around the bed before neatness is restored, with the top smooth and the edges tucked in beneath the mattress.
The bed maker faces other problems, especially when a side or an end, or both, of the mattress is virtually inaccessible as when a side or end is adjacent a wall. This frequently occurs in smaller bed rooms and in children's rooms where there are bunk beds, or built-in beds. The bed maker must climb across the bed to tuck in the sheet edges at the otherwise inaccessible side of the bed.
While it is possible to reach all or most of the way across a twin size bed, it is generally impossible to do so with a double bed or one of larger size. The bed maker must move back and forth around the bed in order to make it up.
The invention seeks to ease the task of bed making by eliminating or reducing the number of times a sheet must have its edges tucked and re-tucked in beneath the mattress. Further, the invention seeks to reduce the movement of the bed maker about the double size, or larger, bed by enabling the bulk of the bed maker's activity to take place at one side of the bed.
Prior art of interest was found in the French Brevet D'Invention No. 1.287.099 and the Offenlegungsschrift issued in West Germany as OLS 2.150.290. Both disclose blankets for use on double beds. The blanket has two overlapping sections. The overlap occurs in the central region of the bed and enables one of two occupants of the bed to effectively discard the covering without disturbing the other occupant. These blankets do not ease the task of making a bed and they are not disclosed as being in combination with any other item of bedding. No teaching is presented which would lead one to experiment with coupled combinations of these blankets and other bedding items. Since they neither anticipate nor make obvious the present invention, they are noted here as of interest only.